Pharmacy Students Win National Recognition for Organ Donation Awareness

The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) Hawaii Student Society of Health-System Pharmacy (HSSHP)-Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) organization was recognized for the 2025-2026 “Best New Project” from the American Society of Transplantation (AST).

HSSHP-AMCP undertook the AST Organ Donation Challenge for the first time in collaboration with the Legacy of Life Hawaii. The Annual Organ Donation Challenge is an initiative by the AST Transplant Pharmacy Community of Practice that encourages pharmacy trainees to design and lead organ donation awareness events.

The DKICP project, “Living Aloha, Giving Life: Student Pharmacists Initiative for Organ Donation Awareness,” engaged with the community at events such as the Kuleana Health Fair and Vulcan Vitality Fair to spread awareness of the importance of organ donation. A Lunch and Learn at DKICP featuring an organ transplant recipient further offered PharmD students a meaningful perspective on how pharmacists can impact the lives of patients.

The initiative was led by PharmD students Emily Yu, Dalena Le, and Zachary James Corpuz. Other key members of the award-winning team included student pharmacists Haley Purdy, Jace Sugimoto, Adam Hocson, Keili Takamiya, and Jayce Lozano.

“The students did a great job with this challenge. It is an honor to be recognized nationally for their efforts. We want to thank Dr. Van Anh Vu, PharmD, MBA, a clinical pharmacist at Queen's Medical Center for collaborating with HSSHP-AMCP.” said Camlyn Masuda, DKICP faculty advisor for HSSHP-AMCP.